Apple will use LCDs from Sharp in the next-generation iPad, people familiar with the situation said Thursday.

Apple's next iPad is expected to launch next year, and Sharp's Kameyama No. 2 plant in central Japan will manufacture LCD panels for the device, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The paper added that Apple is investing in facilities at Sharp's panel manufacturing factories in Japan.

Sharp is already a supplier of LCD panels for Apple's iPhone smartphones.

Sharp said earlier this year that its Kameyama No. 2 plant in Mie Prefecture will start mass-producing smaller displays for mobile devices by the end of this year.